The Age of the Earth and Other Curious Queries

Updated on March 5, 2016

I often find myself pondering the massive gap that exists between what modern day science professes and what the Word of God, the Bible, says is true. If you would indulge me for a few minutes, I'd like you to come on a contemplative journey of sorts. First, I need to pose the following question:

"What exactly do we REALLY know?"

In order to answer this question, we have to examine the facts, which for our purposes we will deem as any real, tangible, measurable data that has been collected over the past several hundred years and then measure it against the "total elapsed time" that has passed since the beginning of the universe. The question is, can we really, safely, make concrete determinations about the age of the world around us if our data for any given measurement, say the speed of light, is negligible in comparison to the total amount of time elapsed? The first successful measurement of the speed of light was taken in 1676 by Danish Astronomer, Olaus Roemer. Since this time, we have been measuring the speed of light with greater accuracy. Is the current popular estimate of the age of the earth and the universe based upon the assumption that the speed of light is a constant? If so, shouldn't we ask ourselves if this is a reasonable assumption to make? I would propose that it is not. If the universe itself is estimated to be over 13 billion years old, then a collection of data taken over a 400 year time frame (even if the measurements had always been accurate) would be so negligible that we should not expect to make a determination based upon them. Now, how many other wrong assumptions are we making? Can we truly base our answers to the questions of the age of the earth and the universe on collected data for hundreds or, at best, a thousand years?

One thing we do know is this; things change, decay, and grow at surprising rates in surprising ways. A caterpillar becomes a butterfly, a human is nearly fully grown within the first 15% of his lifespan, not to mention the incredible growth rate of a cell to infancy during pregnancy. People and animals do not grow at constant rates, nor do they keep the same physical characteristics and attributes forever. Why would we expect the world around us to be so predictable based on what we know now or data collected over such a short time period?

We assume that things will continue to go on as they always have. We assume that we can predict the present by applying our data to the past. This I believe is dangerous and we are warned in 2 Peter that in the end, this is exactly what people will conclude:

"First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires and asking, "Where is this promised 'coming' of his? For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation."" (2 Peter 3:3-4)

This statement parallels today's thinking perfectly, but then it goes on in verse 5 to not only tell why they are thinking this way, but to address that they are overlooking not only past truths, but also the future ones:

"But, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by God's Word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters, and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed. It is by that same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been preserved, are being kept for fire until the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed." (2 Peter 3:5-7)

That last statement is the reason why, ultimately, people will disregard God's Word, even when He is telling us how He made the world, and what will come of the world. We do not like being called ungodly people, we do not want to be destroyed and judgment does not sound pleasant. The truth of the matter is, however, that we are ungodly, every last one of us, and simply denying it will automatically make us ungodly, because we are nowhere near what is truly godly; perfection, holiness, mercy and justice. In order for a human to become more godly, he must become increasingly more aware of his own ungodliness and deprivation. Only God is and ever will be God. So, we can choose to bow down or we can choose to rebel, but, remember this:

"With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins." (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Comments 9 comments

You are so right - we are too good at leaping to conclusions that may not be valid. For us to make assumptions about eons of time based on the observation of a few centuries is indeed presumptuous.

An excellent, thoughtful hub!

Tamarajo 5 years ago from Southern Minnesota

My husband and I were eating dinner the other night and the gentlemen at table next to ours were discussing evolutionary theories and quoting them as facts. It was somewhat amusing to listen to three professional, intelligent men use there human reasoning to quantify things they knew little about. All I could think of was God's confrontation with Job when He said "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth"

I watch a lot of PBS science documentaries and of course their discoveries are always presented through the evolutionary theory lens but I am finding that many of these discoveries they are making actually agree with scripture and support creative theories more than chance happening ones and I am always perplexed as to why they don't see it.

I get frustrated when theories, based on such little information for such a short period of time as your hub suggests, are being taught as facts.

christicue 5 years ago from Franklin, TN Author

Thank you so much Betty & Tamarajo for taking the time to read and comment on this hub. I think a lot about this subject, but have very few people to talk to about it, so it's so great to have your feedback. I love the verse from Job! You are so right in saying that it is people relying on human reasoning. It is truly amazing to see how, not only do so many new discoveries agree with the Bible, but also how many of them alter and disprove what mainstream science has chosen to take as fact...like the evolutionary theory. So, they have to find new ways to make what has been discovered fit into the worldview that they have placed their faith in. Thank you both again for your thoughtful comments

Betty Johansen 5 years ago

I've recently discovered a website that I really enjoy. The organization is Reasons to Believe and the website is www.reasons.org. These scientists believe in an ancient Earth, but they do not believe in evolution. Then there's the Institute for Creation Research at www.icr.org. These scientists believe in a young Earth and do not believe in Darwin's theories.

I find these topics fascinating and recently read a lot of the articles at reasons.org. You might enjoy them too since you don't have many people you can discuss these issues with.

christicue 5 years ago from Franklin, TN Author

Thanks Betty, I appreciate that! I do follow ICR, but haven't heard of Reasons to Believe. I'll have to check that out!

christ4ever 5 years ago from a life in sin saved by the Lord's grace - we are blessed with the ministry in Florida & Georgia

From what I can gather out of scripture, is that "time" did not even really exist until we were expelled from "paradise" and placed under the curse, where decay and ultimatley death originated.

On the scientific side of things, Einstein's theories state that "time" is another dimension of its own, just like how we perceive space and depth. For example, if that dimension of reality had not even been created by the Lord yet, then how can you measure the age of the universe before time existed?

Likewise, leading astro-physicists and other brilliant minds have recently proven that the speed of light is not constant and that it actually slows down over distance and time. What that translates into, is that all the models they have theorized for determining the age of the universe (and the Earth), are wrong because the math they used is now tainted by this new evidence (meaning they don't really know). LOL- It's amazing that the more we learn, the less we really know, and how science keeps proving itself in error and giving more credence to the existence of God (instead of supporting their own beliefs).

Keep up with these great insights and be blessed always... Rev.Ted

christicue 5 years ago from Franklin, TN Author

Thank you Rev. Ted for your comments and the link to your hub. I loved it and very much enjoyed how you broke down the ages. I agree that decay couldn't have begun until after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, but I'm curious what your thoughts are on the 4th day of creation because it seems to me like this is when God instituted time and the ability to measure it...since this is the day when He established all that we use today to keep track of days, years, seasons, times, etc.

Thank you again, for your comment and added information. May God bless you and bless the ministries that He is using you in. I appreciate very much your heart to serve Him. The passion and love that you have for Him is evident in your writing. May He bless you and keep you as you continue to persevere in your calling. God Bless you always!

Christi

Ceegen 4 years ago from Maine, USA

Very nice.

I know this is old content, but I stumbled onto this by chance, somehow. Was wondering if you've ever heard of Kent Hovind? He does some great work on age of the earth and stuff, how it relates to the flood, and all sorts of myths of evolution that is taught as fact. You can get onto youtube and watch some of his debates or lectures.

christicue 4 years ago from Franklin, TN Author

Thanks Ceegen,

I've heard of him but it's been a little while. I'd be interested to watch the debates.